Where can you recharge a car battery for free?

 

By Chad Lückhoff

 

While no major outlet chains offer free battery charging, they will test your battery for free. Here are a few solutions to help if you get stuck.

Did you climb into your car this morning only to find that it wouldn't start? Are you guilty of having left your lights or the radio on overnight? If the car struggles to get going or if the car is completely dead, you may very well have a flat battery.

Batteries, while generally a long-life item, are consumable and over time they lose their ability to store charge. This will result in difficult starting or no starting whatsoever. The good news is that there are a host of retailers that can help you out.

Places like Battery Centre, Kwik-Fit, or Best Drive, will be able to offer you a free test to check whether your car battery is on its last legs or if the fault is just a once off.

While these tests are free, they do not offer free battery charging. They may be willing to charge your battery for a small fee or offer you a replacement battery, with your old battery as an exchange item.

Here's what you can try to do:

Jump Starting

You can use jumper cables to “jump start” the dead car using a car that has a working battery. You can find our tutorial on that here.

Push Starting

If you have a manual car, you may be able to push start it to get it to spring into life. This will require some assistance or a long enough, sloping driveway.

See more on that here.

Using a battery Booster

A battery booster is a portable device that will provide your car with just enough power to get the engine running, after which, the alternator can take over and start charging the system.

Let the car charge itself

Once your car is started, you can take a 20-minute drive to see if the alternator is able to push some charge into the battery as you drive. If you still battle to start the car, then it's time for a new battery.